Given that the gist of the sentiment has made profound sense for centuries, one man’s trash is another person’s treasure is considered to be an idiomatic proverb, tweaked and used for generations and not attributed to any one author or philosopher.

But allow this opportunity to introduce someone who proves emphatically that the idiom has serious merit. Her name is Clemmie Perry and if you’re bored by professional golfers going on and on about “growing the game,” good for you. After all, such a noble claim is hollow chatter coming from millionaire golfers.

Instead give praise to Perry who is the creator of a wonderful endeavors such as Women of Color Golf (WOCG) and Girls on the Green Tee (GOTGT) in the Tampa, Fla., are where she was born and raised.

As someone who gets her inspiration from legends of color and great dignity such as the esteemed Renee Powell and her late father, trail-blazer Bill Powell, Clemmie Perry developed a passion for golf in a most remarkable way.

All it took was a layoff from Lockheed Martin and a savvy brother who found a set of golf clubs in the trash and told his sister that she was going to play the game. Her first reaction was to laugh. “I had never played,” she said.

But then she thought “that it might be healthy to be outside walking” and Clemmie couldn’t deny that “finally, I had time” after leaving a stressful job doing training and managing 130,000 employees.

“My brother found those clubs and then told me he was getting me golf lessons for my birthday.”

Honestly, the game is all the better for those gifts because Clemmie Perry has been a force of great change ever since.

Consider her mission statement – “to increase diversity and inclusion in the sport of golf for women and girls through instruction, on-course play, mentoring, networking, special events, and career-related opportunities.

The consider how she has backed up those words – walk the walk, as they say.

More than 5,000 young girls have been trained through GOTGT and hundreds of women have taken advantage of WOCG. When she founded the programs in 2014, Perry was doing so as someone who was still a novice to the game, but she had already learned how the game could open doors and create opportunities for better a better life.

“I realize that most things take time to change,” said Perry. “But most things will change when the systems change.”

Never has it been easy, always has the mission required perseverance and a commitment to a methodical structure. “I’m proud,” she said. “I’m tired, but I’m proud.”

The pride and the drive is inherited from her parents. She said her father, Charles Perry, was a trailblazer of sorts in the 1940, one of the first African-Americans to receive a contract from an NFL team after playing for Tuskegee Institute. He also was a player-ambassador for the Detroit Gems in the early days of the NBA.

“(And) my mom (Doris Ross Reddick) died at age 97 one-and-a-half years ago and was an inspiration her entire life.”

Though her father introduced her to sports and she loved athletic competition, Clemmie said golf wasn’t in the picture till 2013 when he her brother got those clubs and urged her to take lessons.

Promptly, she felt the lure of the game.

“Golf is impressive. It touches on every aspect to your life.”

She learned the hard way that “when you lose a job, the phone doesn’t ring,” said Clemmie Perry. She also learned that the professional golf bodies (the PGA Tour and LPGA) weren’t forthcoming with support, but she was undeterred.

To help support her ambitious desire to provide golf clinics and mentorship programs for these women and young girls, Clemmie Perry’s charity partnered with Palo Alto Networks Cyber Security leaders and with other trailblazers in women’s golf:

Powell, who runs Clearview GC in East Canton, Ohio, which her father built, and who was presented the First Lady of Golf by the PGA of America and was one of the first women honored with membership into the Royal & Ancient;

Jan Bel Jan, who worked for years with Tom Fazio and now has her own golf course design company;

And Glady Lee of Plano, Texas, who has been hard at work since 1968 introducing golf to women and girls and ran The Roaring Lambs International Junior Academy.

With an uncanny drive and infectious personality, Clemmie Perry has made friends and contacts with the likes of the iconic Gary Player and proclaims that the support of her charity “just shows the power of golf.”

Along the way, her efforts earned her a visit to the White House, honored with a group of women during a “Champions of Change” campaign. The 1979 graduate of Florida A&M was called “a rock star” by the Tallahassee Democrat but she still insists the biggest pleasure she receives is seeing women and girls truly see that opportunities in golf can help them.

For a woman who felt so secure in her business career, only to wake up one day and learn her job was gone – “that was my biggest ‘ah ha’ moment,” she said – the charitable road golf has helped her travel is beyond her wildest expectations.

“I created my own curriculum,” she said. “I wanted to get (girls and women) comfortable and I’ve been so fortunate to be involved with real trail-blazers.”

But there is no end to her enthusiasm. Instead, there is another avenue she hopes to travel with golf. Recently, Clemmie Perry took on the challenge to introduce seniors to golf, showing them it can help with their wellness.

“This is going to be dedicated to seniors. It’s golf activism. It’s what we are customizing (with the partnership with ChenMed in the Tampa area.”

Clemmie Perry, now 68, concedes it’s a work in progress, but consider that she is relentlessly enthusiastic, the passion for growing the game is real, not just a hollow claim.